Pipe-wrench.



No. 793,686- PATENTED JULY 4, 1905.

F. SHERKEL.

PIPE WRENGH,JR.

APPLICATION FILED DEG-30, 1904.

M I/W ,Q

Alforzzz /l UNITED STATES Patented July 4, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

PlPE-WRENCH.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 793,686, elated July 4, 1905.

Application filed Decembe 30,1904. Serial No. 238,990.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK SHERKEL, Jr., a citizen of the United States, residing at Houtzdale, in the county of Clearfield and State of Pennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements in Pipe-Wrenches,of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates particularly to pipewrenches; and it is characterized by novelty and improvement with respect to the adjustment of the movable jaw, as more fully pointed out hereinafter.

A novel pipe-cutting arrangement is also a feature of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of the wrench. Fig. 2 is a longitudinal section. Fig. 3 is a front view.

Referring specifically to the drawings, 6 indicates the shank, and 7 a fixed jaw projecting at the end thereof.

8 indicates the movable jaw, slidable on the shank. A screw adjustment and lock is eflected by a screw 9, which is carried by the adjustable jaw and engages a rack 10, formed in the edge of the shank 6. The screw is mutilated or flattened on one side, as at 11, so that quick adjustment is effected when desired.

The movable jaw 8 carries a toothed wedge 12,arranged to engage the pipe to be wrenched. This wedge 12 has on the underside thereof a dovetailed tongue 13, which fits within a dovetailed groove formed on the top of the jaw 8. The wedge is slidable in and out to the extent permitted by a stop 14 at the head of a pin 15. This stop projects in a groove 16, formed on the under side of the tongue 13 and extending for a distance therein from the outer end. The wedge-piece 12 is normally forced outwardly by a flat spring 17, which is contained within a recess in the adjustable jaw and bears against the inner end of the tongue 13. When the teeth of the wedge-piece take hold of the pipe, the spring 17 yields, so that the wedge action tightens the grip under pressure.

The screw 9 has in the upper end thereof a hole 18, located in position to receive the point of the pin when the stripped or flattened portion of the screw is opposite. the rack 10. In a recess in the movable jaw under the screw 9.is a coiled spring 19, one end of which is fast to the screw and the other end of which is fast to the adjustable jaw. This spring tends to turn the screw, so that its threads will engage in the rack. The pin 15 has a beveled head 20 arranged to be struck by the shoulder 21 at the end of the groove 16. Said pin is normally forced upwardly by a spring 22, coiled around the same, the pin and spring being contained in a suitable recess made in the movable In use the spring 17 tends to force the wedgepiece 12 outwardly, and the shoulder 21, striking the bevel 20, forces the pin down or in, so that its point enters the hole 18 when the screw is set so that its stripped side is toward the rack 10, and when the parts are so set it will be seen that the movable jaw may be slid up and down with quick action to fit the wrench to the pipe. Then when the wrench is turned to cause the teeth to take into the pipe the effect is to force the wedge 12 inwardly. This action at once releases the pin 15, which is lifted by the spring 22 from engagement with the screw 9,which being thus released is turned by the spring 19, throwing its threads in engagement with the rack, and thereby locking the adjustable jaw, and continued pressure binds the pipe tighter by the action of the wedge-piece 12.

It will be seen that it is simply necessary to set the screw 9 with its flat side toward the rack and then put the wrench on the pipe, and as soon as it takes hold the screw will be released and swing around and lock the adjustable jaw.

The pipe-cutting appliances consist of a straight cutter 23, a rotary cutter 24, and a grooved wheel 25. The cutter 23 is reversible and fits within a recess within the movable jaw. On one side it is beveled to a cutting edge, and on the other side it is toothed to correspond with the face of the wedgepiece 12. It is held in place by a pin 26. The rotary cutter 24 and grooved wheel 25 are heldin place by pins 27 and 28, respectively. All the pins 26, 27, and 28 are removable when desired, the first to allow the cutter 23 to be reversed and the others to allow the retary cutter and grooved wheel to drop into a recess formed in the fixed jaw 7. When backed into the recess, the pins 27 and 28 are inserted to keep them there.

The purpose of the grooved wheel is to allow a smaller and also a larger pipe to be out than would otherwise be the case. When the parts 28, 24, and 25 are set to cut a pipe, the wheel 25 will form one of the points on which the pipe is supported, and consequently will not allow the pipe to edge off toward the shank, but will keep it up to the knife. With a very small pipe the wheel 25 will hold the pipe to the cutters when otherwise they would not take, and by having the wheel grooved it can be set closer to the rotary cutter 24 than would otherwise be the case, so that quite a small pipe, indeed, may be cut. Inasmuch as the cutters are carried in the wrench when not in use, there is less chance of their being lost than if they were carried separately.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a wrench, the combination with the fixed jaw, of a movable jaw having a toothed wedge piece slidable thereon between the jaws, means to hold the movable jaw at adjustment, and means actuated by the motion of the wedge-piece to operate said means.

2. In awrench, the combination with ashank I having a fixed jaw, of a movable jaw on the shank, having a toothed wedge shdable thereon between the jaws, means carried by the movable jaw and operated by the wedge-piece,

and engageable with the shank to hold the jaw at adjustment.

3. In a wrench, the combination with ashank having a fixed jaw and a rack, of a movable jaw. on the shank, having a toothed wedge slidable thereon between the jaws, a screw carried by the movable jaw and engageable with the rack, the screw being stripped on one side, a spring tending to turn the screw to engage its threads with the rack, and a spring-pin on which the wedge bears and which is engageable with the screw to hold its stripped side opposite the rack, and which releases the screw when the wedge-piece is moved as in gripping the work.

4. The combination with a wrench having a recess in one of its jaws, of a rotary cutter which may be put back intothe recess, and a removable pivot-pin for the cutter, insertiblc across the recess to hold the cutter therein when not in position for use.

5. A pipe attachment for wrenches, comprising a rotary cutter carried by one jaw of the Wrench and a grooved wheel adjacent the cutter and arranged to bear upon a pipe being cut.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

FRANK SHERKEL, JR.

Witnesses:

JAMEs PELLOW, JOHN W. DUNCAN. 

